February 10, 2010

Thank You, Guy Siner

Actor Guy Siner, who played Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in the "'Allo 'Allo!" movies, and more recently, the Harbormaster in "Pirates of the Caribbean", has graciously agreed to sign the petition to end citizenship discrimination against children born to unmarried British fathers.

A little known fact about Siner is that he too was a victim of citizenship discrimination. Born in the United States to a British mother, Siner was not able to obtain his British citizenship through his mother. Until 2002, children born outside the UK, before 1983 to British mothers, could not register their births and get a UK passport. The law changed in 2002, but still had a cut-off date of 1961. Last year, the cut-off date was removed and on January 13, 2010 every single child born outside the country was eligible to register their births.

I should remind you that we are now officially the last group without a path to British citizenship. Let us remember how much those in the House of Commons and the House of Lords detest illegitimate children and their fathers.